The president of San Francisco's Board of Supervisors will back the mayor's deal with EarthLink with a number of revisions: This includes increasing the no-cost rate to 500 Kbps from 300 Kbps; reducing the contract's term to 8 years from 16; and having an enforceable provision for network coverage. He's in separate talks with EarthLink, apparently. The board will also review Tuesday the exemption to environmental review that the city's planning department recommends, and is opposed by anti-antenna group.
Milwaukee's network is finally nearly live, but citywide benchmark pushed back: Midwest Fiber Networks will complete tests with the city this week to launch the first major phase of its network. This deadline was originally to be met in January; the completion deadline was March 2008, itself set back from mid-2007 after negotiation delays, and that's quite unlikely to be met. Midwest Fiber is funding the project itself, and will charge $20 per month for access; about 60 sites chosen by the city will be accessible at no charge. The delays are attributable to utility pole issues, big surprise.